Trailer Trash (9/6/13)

Volume 44: I’d Buy Something Else for a Dollar

RoboCop

Dir: José Padilha – Planned release date: February 7, 2014

The idea of resurrecting the RoboCop character for the 21^st century is not inherently a bad one. The idea of rebooting the franchise altogether in a slick, PG-13 package is borderline blasphemy. Even if it proves to be a more than adequate diversion, it seems José Padilha’s remake of the Paul Verhoeven classic will ignore almost everything that made the original great. The cast is admittedly impressive, and in particular giving Michael Keaton the role of OmniCorp CEO Raymond Sellars is kind of ingenious. I just have no faith that this movie is going to have anything resembling the bite of the original. Perhaps there will be occasional hints of satire or political subtext, and maybe I’m not giving it enough credit, but the new RoboCop looks designed to fit snugly into the modern blockbuster landscape. That’s not what RoboCop is supposed to be about.

Dallas Buyers Club

Dir: Jean-Marc Vallée – Planned release date: November 1

Matthew McConaughey has put together quite the career comeback in the last couple years, and Dallas Buyers Club looks to be the awards-bait cherry on top. It’s certainly one of the showier roles of the McConaughey renaissance, as it requires him to play an HIV-stricken man who joins forces with the transgender Rayon (Jared Leto) to smuggle medications into the United States from foreign countries. There’s no early buzz indicating the film’s overall quality, but it continues to be a joy seeing such a gifted actor actually using his talents for good. It’s also worth noting that McConaughey lost 38 pounds to play this role, the fatso.

Parkland

Dir: Peter Landesman – Planned release date: October 4

The world certainly doesn’t need another movie about the JFK assassination, but lo and behold here is Peter Landesman’s Parkland. It’s an ensemble drama most notable for featuring Zac Efron as the doctor who must operate on the fatally wounded president before dramatically throwing his stethoscope down in frustration, probably yelling “dammit!” in the process. (He’s a big boy actor now, you see.) By and large, Parkland seems to be about the people on the periphery of the actual assassination, such as Paul Giamatti’s Abraham Zapruder, Billy Bob Thornton’s Secret Service agent, and James Badge Dale’s Robert Oswald, brother of Lee Harvey. At the very least it doesn’t seem as though Landesman has any conspiracy theories up his sleeve—sorry, Oliver Stone—but it will be hard for me to not get distracted by Efron’s turn as the doctor. It will probably do nothing but remind me of George Clooney’s scene from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. IT NEVER. GETS. ANY. EASIER!

Kill Your Darlings

Dir: John Krokidas – Planned release date: October 16

Speaking of teen stars in the midst of their transition to super seriousness, enter Daniel Radcliffe as Allen Ginsberg in John Krokidas’ Kill Your Darlings. It’s been a well-received film so far, as it chronicles Ginsberg’s college life and relationships with the likes of Lucien Carr (Dane DeHaan), David Kammerer (Michael C. Hall), William Burroughs (Ben Foster), Jack Kerouac (Jack Huston) and more. It looks to take one period of time from the Beat Generation’s early years and bring it to life, with the major development being the death of Kammerer in 1944. It’s a fascinating project for many reasons, but by all accounts it seems to be a good step in the right direction for Radcliffe in his post-Harry Potter years. Also, DeHaan continues to be one of the more captivating young actors working today. Probably just because he has the whole "creepy" thing down to a science.

Runner Runner

Dir: Brad Furman – Planned release date: September 27

When matched with the right role or material, Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake can both be really engaging performers. When matched with the wrong material, it can be a bit rough. By the looks of this preview for Brad Furman’s Runner Runner, things might be about to land on the rough side. The trailer strains credulity right at the outset as Timberlake plays a Princeton student who hangs out a lot with Ben Schwartz in between online gambling sprees. He then goes to his computer whiz friend who tells him he was cheated by some jerk on a remote island, and when he travels to said remote island he discovers said jerk is Ben Affleck. Unfortunately, neither of these actors is great at the whole “menace” thing, and as the two of them start to get down to their tough guy business the whole ordeal just feels a bit… off. One of the trailer’s climactic shots is a dramatic stare-down between Timberlake and Affleck, but it seems as if both actors are seconds away from cracking a smile, hugging, and asking each other how the wives are.